Friday, October 6th was a crucial day in the 2023-24 KHL season, not just for the team that emerged from the CSKA Ice Palace in the nation’s capital victorious that day, but perhaps for the whole league. While the first game for SKA Saint Petersburg with new goaltender Nikita Serebryakov got off to an ignominious start, with a goal conceded in the first 20 seconds of the match to CSKA Moscow F Vladislav Kamenev when the visitors were unable to clear the puck out of their own zone, they would eventually emerge victorious. This game was no easy task, as SKA further fell down 2-1 by way of a goal by F Pavel Karnaukhov in the second period after SKA F/New Jersey Devils prospect Arseni Gritsyuk had equalized in the first on a power play goal. However, despite the holes they had to climb out of, one of which they found themselves in very early, SKA were able to leave their rival’s arena with a hard-earned victory by way of a determined comeback, which included winger Sergei Tolchinsky equalizing the score a 2-2 with his first goal since the season opener against Dynamo Moscow and the team scoring the game-winner while playing shorthanded. The latter was a quite a sequence of events, too, as the road team had gone down a man by way of a bad tripping penalty by another Devils prospect, F Zakhar Bardakov, which looked like it might be a backbreaker. However, C Mikhail Vorobyov (one-time Philadelphia Flyers system member) was able to score on an impressive solo effort.

This game was quite an impressive battle overall. Serebryakov put in the performance the team acquired him for, stopping 34 of 36 shots on net for a SV% of .944. This is contrast to SKA’s 24 shots on net, which made for a poor day for CSKA netminder Ivan Fedotov (a one-time Flyers draft pick who has recently been the subject of an international ice hockey controversy regarding the status of his contract), who allowed 3 goals on 24 shots for a SV% of .857. Additionally, SKA were out-hit 22 to 15 in a matchup that included some fearsome bodychecks, such as SKA RW Svyatoslav Grebenshchikov being sent into the CSKA bench by CSKA D Vladislav Provolnev, with Grebenshchikov slamming into unsuspecting CSKA D Yaroslav Dyblenko in the process. To their credit, however, SKA were able to somewhat match the physical play of CSKA, with D/Carolina Hurricanes prospect Alexander Nikishin (who I often laud for his offensive abilities, but also deserves marks for his checking prowess) delivering a devastating hip-check on CSKA C/alternate captain Andrei Svetlakov. Additionally, SKA had the advantage in the faceoff circle 36-28, which may have aided them in getting meaningful chances down the stretch despite losing the overall possession battle. It was definitely a victory to be satisfied with, as well as a fantastic debut by Serebryakov. Now that we have a taste of what this group can do with him against Sergei Fedorov’s group who are still a difficult opponent even if their record to this point this year is not the most flattering (keep in mind, this team won the Gagarin Cup both of the last two seasons in addition to qualifying for the finals the year prior, and seem to have found their form in recent times), it feels safe to infer that the chances Saint Petersburg has of finding success this season have increased.

At present, SKA Saint Petersburg are ranked 8th in the Western Conference, 4th in the Bobrov Division, and 15th in the league standings/Continental Cup ladder. The team is not quite yet where they want to be; however, they had an impact/statement win against an intimidating/rival opponent and had a great debut by their new, touted goaltender. The season is far from over and SKA is very likely on the precipice of being a nightmare matchup for the rest of the league. Their next game is against Kunlun Red Star at home on Monday, October 9th. The defending Continental Cup champions will look to build upon the result that they had against Russian hockey’s greatest dynasty and use that as fuel and a model for success for the rest of the KHL season. We will see how head coach Roman Rotenberg maximizes the potential of this group going forward.